The present invention relates generally to the field of information handling systems, and more particularly to an information handling system having an internal scalable switching storage system.
It is often desirable to expand the information storage capacity of an information handling system. For example, an information storage system may be externally coupled to an information handling system for providing a reliable mass storage system for storing large quantities of information such that the mass storage system is scalable to accommodate increasing the overall storage capacity of the mass storage system by adding a number of storage devices (e.g., disk drives or the like storage media) to the mass storage system as storage capacity requirements increase. Typically, the number of storage devices that may be included in the mass storage system exceeds the number of storage devices that an information handling system is capable of directly utilizing internally. For example, Fibre Channel (formerly known as Fiber Channel) is a standard promulgated by the Fibre Channel Association (FCA) for connecting storage systems to information handling systems. A redundant array of independent disks (RAID) is a mass storage system having a large number of storage disk drives typically compliant with a Fiber Channel standard. Under a Fibre Channel standard, a RAID storage system may utilize up to 127 disk drives for storing a large quantity of information. Typically, a mass storage system such as a RAID system provides high speed data transfer rates, high reliability, and scalability in a storage system external to an information handling system such as a server that controls and accesses the mass storage system. However, the features and performance of such a mass storage system have yet to be applied internally to an information handling system, even on a lesser scale. Utilization of mass storage system technology and topologies internal to an information handling system would allow the information handling system to easily accommodate an increasing number of storage devices with increasing storage capacity requirements. Furthermore, utilization of both internal and external mass storage system topologies in an information handling system would allow the information handling system to easily utilize external storage systems as the storage limits of the internal system are reached. Thus, there lies a need for an information handling system having an internal storage system that is scalable by utilization of mass storage system topologies and that is further scalable beyond the limit of the internal system by being configurable to accommodate both internal and external mass storage system topologies.
The present invention is directed to an information handling system having an integrated internal scalable switching storage system. In one embodiment, the invention includes a housing, a processor disposed in the housing and a memory device for storing a program of instructions executable by the processor, a bus disposed in the housing, the processor and the memory being coupled to the bus, a host bus adapter coupled to the bus and disposed in the housing, and an information storage system, coupled to the host bus adapter and disposed in the housing, the information storage system comprising a backplane for coupling at least one information storage device to the host bus adapter.
The present invention is further directed to a method for interfacing with an information storage system. In one embodiment, the method includes steps for transmitting a signal from a host information handling system to be received by the information storage system, determining whether the information storage system is internal to the host information handling system, in the event a determination is made that the information storage system is internal to the host information handling system, determining whether the information storage system is in a loop configuration, in the event a determination is made that the information storage system is in a loop configuration, sending the signal to an intended storage device of the information storage system by retransmitting the signal from a first storage device to a succeeding storage device until the information reaches the intended storage device, and, in the event a determination is made that the information storage system is not in a loop configuration, sending the signal to an intended storage device of the information storage system by transmitting the signal directly to the intended storage device.
It is to be understood that both the forgoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory only and are not restrictive of the invention as claimed. The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of the specification, illustrate an embodiment of the invention and together with the general description, serve to explain the principles of the invention.